Asbestos Removal Bid: ARC Construction

by J Scott January 30, 2014

As is typical, the demo company doesn’t want to have anything to do with disposal of asbestos during demo (we have some asbestos siding). They were able to refer me over to the environmental company they typically use — ARC Construction — and I gave them a call. Long story short, the guy I spoke […]

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Time to Start Getting Construction Bids

by J Scott January 18, 2014

Now that we have our (almost) final drawings in hand, we can start getting bids. While it would have been nice to have been meeting contractors and getting bids over the past several months, until you have drawings in-hand, many contractors aren’t going to want to spend the time and energy putting together bids. They […]

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Foundation Bid: First Couple Bids

by J Scott January 17, 2014

We’ve received two foundation bids so far… The first company I won’t mention, but I wasn’t thrilled with their responsiveness and organization. I had to deal with multiple different groups within the company to get different parts of the bid, and one group completely dropped the ball. I’m not convinced that dealing with them to […]

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ECP/SDP Submitted

by J Scott January 17, 2014

Our Environmental Concept Plan (ECP) and Site Development Site (SDP) were submitted to the county by our engineer today. From here, the county has 45 days to review them and either approve or request changes.

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Advanced Plans In-Hand

by J Scott January 16, 2014

It’s been a couple months since we got our last version of the architectural plans, but the drafting firm was busy and we were in no hurry given our revised schedule (based on having to do the ECP/SDP). Anyway, they just sent us the Advanced Plans. The purpose of these is to capture all the […]

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Going Turn-Key on Foundation Bids

by J Scott January 8, 2014

There is only one area of our build where I’m not completely comfortable with my role as General Contractor — the foundation work. Because I’ve never built a house on a basement before, and because we’re going to be very tight within our building envelope on this project, I’m going to be happy spending some […]

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Framing Bids

by J Scott January 8, 2014

Along with foundation, framing is another area where I’m willing to pay a bit more for turn-key installation. You see, with framing, there is a lot of coordination required between the guys doing the work and all the suppliers. If your take-offs (the detailed list of materials needed) are wrong, you can end up in […]

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Stormwater Management Plan

by J Scott December 6, 2013

Our engineer — who is working on the ECP/SDP — sent us the first version of the stormwater management plan today. It is pretty straightforward — it shows the gutters and downspouts off the roof, leading to underground water conduits to a “micro-bioretention pond” (also known as a “rain garden,” which is a man-made filtration […]

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First Draft of Basement Layout

by J Scott November 20, 2013

We finally came up with a design for our basement. The goal is to provide a good amount of usable space, but to also keep a decent amount of the basement unfinished, which will keep costs down, provide storage space, and also provide easy access to the mechnicals. Here is what Carol sent to our […]

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Preliminary Plans In-Hand

by J Scott November 1, 2013

It’s been two weeks since we officially hired our drafting firm to complete our architectural plans, and they just sent us the Preliminary Plans. The purpose of these is to lay out the floor plan and front elevations so that we can work out any major details before moving on the the more detailed plans. […]

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Our House Design

by J Scott October 24, 2013

Here is the front elevation and the floorplan designs that Carol put together that are being submitted to the drafting firm today: Front Elevation First Floor Second Floor

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